Fox Chase expansion
tops mayor’s to-do list

By Tom Waring
Times Staff Writer

Fox Chase Cancer Center is thanking new Mayor Michael Nutter for making its planned expansion a top priority on his early agenda.
Dr. Robert Young, a former president of the cancer center who is now its chancellor, and vice president Tom Garvey met on Jan. 30 with Nutter and City Councilman Brian O’Neill (R-10th dist.).
The next day, at Council’s session, O’Neill introduced legislation that would lease part of Burholme Park to the cancer center, located at 333 Cottman Ave.
The councilman had already agreed to push a measure changing the zoning of the parkland to an institutional development district, which would allow for construction.
Franklin Hoke, senior director of public affairs at Fox Chase, said Nutter’s leadership was the catalyst for resolving the issues conceptually. Now, the center hopes for swift passage of the lease.
"We’re eager to cooperate with all the relevant parties," Hoke said.
Former Mayor John Street was also a strong supporter of Fox Chase’s bid to expand on about 19 acres of the 60-acre park.
Fred Maurer, a leading opponent of expansion into Burholme Park, maintains that it is illegal to build in a public park.
"There’s no fairness in this," he said. "It’s strictly big money talking."
Maurer, who lives in Olney, and other opponents of the expansion into the park hope that an Orphans’ Court judge rejects the plan because the 1902 will of Robert Waln Ryerss gave the park to the people of Philadelphia to use forever.
At a Council hearing in November, Gerald Waln, a cousin of Robert Waln Ryerss, gave what Maurer considers powerful testimony to keep the park intact.
"That changed the tenor of the whole debate," Maurer contended.
What does O’Neill think? It’s unclear, since he refused to comment for this article.
According to spokesman Marty O’Rourke, the councilman is angry about a Jan. 24 Times article about a federal investigation of the chief of staff to Councilman Jack Kelly.
The only mention of O’Neill in the story is that he advised then-Councilman Thacher Longstreth in 1994 to hire a Northeast resident to handle constituent services. Longstreth, on the advice of Kelly, hired Chris Wright, who later became Kelly’s chief of staff.
In a Jan. 23 news release, O’Neill stated that, "The proposed expansion of the Fox Chase Cancer Center is a critical component for the center to realize its goal of becoming one of our nation’s premiere (sic) cancer research facilities."
On Friday afternoon, the Fairmount Park Commission will meet to review the latest developments with the proposed expansion. The commission approved the expansion into the park in March 2005, but construction has been delayed by a lengthy traffic study and the issue of finding parkland to make up for the ground on which the new buildings will sit.
People on both sides of the expansion generally agree that there is little or no available land in the Burholme and Fox Chase communities. The cancer center will pay $4 million to the city to be used in an undetermined way to benefit the communities surrounding the hospital.
Fox Chase treats about 7,000 new patients a year and expects that number to double by 2015. The planned expansion includes a new hospital, an outpatient treatment center, advanced research facilities and a parking garage.
The 20-year project could cost up to $1 billion. About 1,500 jobs will be created. ••
Reporter Tom Waring can be reached at 215-354-3034 or twaring@phillynews.com